“Beyond the obvious comparisons with ‘fakie’, a simple skate manoeuvre and ‘f****r’, a sardonic term of affection, Fakir is a statement about the challenges facing young people in Cornwall in C21st. It represents the paradox of pain and pleasure into adulthood, a ‘bed of nails’ on which to be a whirling dervish on a skateboard.”
“The nails marginally protrude like several hundred tattooist needles branding the skin of the rider, another delicate collision of self-identity v self-harm. Traditionally, a fakir chose a physical path of development in a quest for transcendental joy. “
“In this case, it forms the back story to an 18 year old I met in 2009 who, without parental or peer pressure, chose to become a Muslim. This decision to do something radical in order to change his outlook on life feels both desperate and inspired in equal measures, something only that boy will ever know.“
